


Starlight  (Aggravated)

by genee



Series: Neon [2]
Category: Bandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-01-03
Updated: 2008-01-03
Packaged: 2017-10-17 21:57:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/181600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genee/pseuds/genee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Mikey wanted to be a firefighter like Gerard wanted to be a cop, wanted it so bad he could taste it on his fingers, his nails bitten right down to the quick. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starlight  (Aggravated)

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same verse as the Neon series, so I'm including it with those stories, but it definitely stands alone.

Mikey wanted to be a firefighter like Gerard wanted to be a cop, wanted it so bad he could taste it on his fingers, his nails bitten right down to the quick. He loved everything about fireschool, the training, the classes, the way his muscles strained under the weight of the gear, the weight of his classmates. He didn't even mind being a probie, not really, not that he wanted another six months of it. That's why he started the paramedic courses in the first place. He wasn't the biggest guy in his class, wasn't the strongest, certainly wasn't the funniest. He didn't play hockey. He didn't even play basketball, not really, not like some of the guys. He needed an edge.

He just didn't think he'd like it so much.

The rush of the ride-along, the easy way Vicky smiled at him from the driver's seat, the way Gabe laughed his ass off right up until they reached the scene, three cars mangled in the intersection, bodies on the ground, blood, and then Gabe's voice was steady, clear, "Kid, _move_ ," and Mikey did. Slid in right beside Gabe like he'd been doing it all his life, a shadow, an extra hand, some stranger's heart beating beneath his fingers, blood everywhere and Gabe's voice in his ear, "Yeah, there, not too hard. You're a natural, kid."

Mikey smiled to himself and didn't even look up when Gabe shouted, " _Hey_ , over here!" He knew there were fire trucks at the scene, knew there were cops, too. He didn't want to think about it.

Gabe nodded at the second ambulance crew, pointed the crash cops towards the driver of the first car, banged up but still standing, drunk at ten in the morning on a Tuesday. Gabe said, "Savin' lives and directin' traffic, kid. It's what we do. Good goddamn morning, _Vicky T_!" and Vicky popped open the back of the ambulance, smiled reassuringly at the woman on the stretcher.

Gabe kept up a steady stream of conversation on the way to the ER, nonsense mostly, Vicky on the radio, calling it in; Gabe's hands were steady on the patient, monitoring her vitals, checking her IV. Mikey was too aggravated with himself to do anything but hold her hand and keep breathing, which was fine, Gabe didn't need him to do anything else. Gabe in action was really pretty intense.

Mikey told himself this didn't change anything, he still wanted to be a firefighter. He told himself everything was the same as it was when he woke up this morning, but he'd said that before, too, and he knew it had never been true. At the hospital Vicky said, "Stay here, don't touch anything. We'll count up in a minute," and Mikey sat right where they left him, blood on his boots, bandage wrappers and used gloves scattered across the floor. He did his best not to move a muscle. It wasn't all that hard.

Gabe came back first, reached in and hauled Mikey out of the back. "It's a rush, right?" Gabe pressed Mikey up against the side of the ambulance, groped him like he needed proof or something, like he couldn't see the adrenaline all over Mikey's skin, sweaty and flushed. Gabe laughed then, ground their hips together, a little sorry but mostly not. "I wanted to be a firefighter once, too. You can do both, you know?"

Mikey nodded and Gabe shook his head, grinning as he stepped back. Vicky said, "I'm not cleaning this bus by myself," and Gabe threw both hands in the air, his fingers bent together all weird, and Vicky laughed, told them to get their asses in gear. Vicky was pretty awesome, too.

It was dark out by the time their shift ended, and Mikey was tired, itchy. Gabe had kept his hands to himself for the rest of the day, and Mikey wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Not that it mattered. Mikey watched his own breath swirl in the cold night air, picked at his cuticles. He wasn't sure what to do.

Vicky tucked her hair behind her ear, touched the back of Mikey's hand with those same fingers. "You can't really," she said. "Do both, I mean," and Mikey shrugged, smiled a little. He knew that. He had a bitch of a headache from knowing that. The wind kicked up again and Vicky's hands flew back to her hair. Gabe stood behind her, batting his eyelashes, his hands on his hips. Gabe was sort of crazy. "Anyway," Vicky said. "Tell Gee I miss him, okay? Tell him I say hi."

Mikey pinched his eyebrows together and tried to focus. He said, "You know my brother?"

"I know your brother," Vicky said, smiling the way girls were always smiling about Gerard, except not, because Vicky didn't have stars in her eyes, just certainty. "See you tomorrow, Mikeyway."

Gabe said, "You're hooked, kid. Don't fight it," and Mikey was halfway home before he called Gerard, switched trains and went back the other way.

He couldn't see the stars through the city lights, but he made a wish anyway, just in case one of them was falling. He thought the odds were probably pretty good.

 

\-- End --


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